Trial selection of STB remote control codes

ABSTRACT

A method consistent with certain embodiments of identifying a functional command set for an access device that accesses television programming provided by a service provider involves, at a control device, transmitting a command from a first command set to the access device; ascertaining whether or not the access device provides a correct response to the command, wherein: if the command comprises an [ON] command, then the ascertaining is carried out by determining if a video synchronization signal is produced by the access device; and if the command comprises a command that is expected to generate a text containing video frame, then the ascertaining is carried out by determining if the text containing video frame is displayed by using an optical character recognition process to extract text from the video frame to determine if the video frame corresponds to the expected text containing video frame. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever. All trademarks used herein are the property of theirrespective trademark owners.

BACKGROUND

The majority of US households receive television content through cabletelevision systems. Such systems have traditionally used a few OEMsuppliers of hardware (e.g., set top boxes) and have not provided forintegration of non-security navigation functionality of set-top boxesdirectly into digital TV sets. Under the so called “Plug and Play”agreement, the CableCARD™ adapter card was standardized as a way toadapt consumer electronics (CE) “navigation” devices to cable networks.While CableCARD™ standardization had promise, it was crippled by a lackof cable operator support, access to only a 1-way, lower tier ofservice, and no service-supplied metadata. With the advent of SwitchDigital service, cable operators are further depreciating 1-way serviceby eliminating access to even some of the “basic” content.

Cable television Multiple Service Operators (MSOs) are presentlyestablishing a new digital TV standard referred to as Open CableApplication Platform (OCAP) which will provide access to enhanced, 2-wayfunctionality with unrestricted access to premium and high-valueinteractive services. Under this scenario, metadata (and the userinterface) will be managed by OCAP applets downloaded to set-top boxessold at retail. There is discussion about downloading OCAP applets todevices connected to those set-top boxes—so called “endpoints” in thehome network. In this way, the cable operators can be assured of the“proper display” of their user interface when playing back cablecontent.

Unfortunately, under the OCAP model, CE manufacturers remain stymiedbecause there does not appear to be a way to gain access to the metadatain order to create an alternative user interface to that supplied viathe OCAP application. It is currently not possible to manage content innew ways that the customer might find compelling. Hence, this standardmay force consumer electronics companies to conform to the userinterfaces (UIs), Electronic Program Guides (EPGs), download protocols,and feature sets, defined by the MSOs using the OCAP standard. Unless atelevision receiver device such as a TV conforms to the OCAP standard(and its associated restrictions), it will be unable, among otherthings, to receive the meta-data related to the digital content. Withoutthis meta-data, the television receiver will be unable to display anyinformation related to the content including EPG descriptive material.As a result, improvements in technology, improved user interfaces andother features developed by such consumer electronics companies that areincompatible with the MSO supplied OCAP interface may be unusable in anOCAP environment. Additionally, the consumer will be stuck with whateveruser interface and EPG capabilities their cable television supplierwishes to provide.

Internet services exist that can provide the desired descriptivematerial, however, to use such services, it is generally necessary toknow the service provider, the time, and the channel number of theprogram being viewed. In a configuration where the STB is simplystreaming decoded video to the TV (i.e., the STB is used just as atuner/decoder), the virtual channel number associated with the video isunknown. Without the virtual channel number, Internet services thatprovide meta-data or descriptive material cannot be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain illustrative embodiments illustrating organization and method ofoperation, together with objects and advantages may be best understoodby reference detailed description that follows taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart depicting an exemplary process for acquisition ofan electronic program guide in a manner consistent with certainembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of an EPG screen containing metadata that can becaptured in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is another example of an EPG screen containing metadata that canbe captured in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a detail page in an EPG with metadata that canbe captured in a manner consistent with certain embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an STB access device and a digital TVcontrol device consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is an example set of special characters that can be recognized ina manner consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method consistent with certain embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram depicting operation in a manner consistentwith certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method consistent with certain embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an STB access device and a digital TVcontrol device consistent with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the presentdisclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of theprinciples and not intended to limit the invention to the specificembodiments shown and described. In the description below, likereference numerals are used to describe the same, similar orcorresponding parts in the several views of the drawings.

The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one, or more thanone. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two, or morethan two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least asecond or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein,are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, asused herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly,and not necessarily mechanically. The term “program” or “computerprogram” or similar terms, as used herein, is defined as a sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system. A “program”,or “computer program”, may include a subroutine, a function, aprocedure, an object method, an object implementation, in an executableapplication, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, ashared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system.

The term “program”, as used herein, may also be used in a second context(the above definition being for the first context). In the secondcontext, the term is used in the sense of a “television program”. Inthis context, the term is used to mean any coherent sequence of audiovideo content such as those which would be interpreted as and reportedin an electronic program guide (EPG) as a single television program,without regard for whether the content is a movie, sporting event,segment of a multi-part series, news broadcast, etc. The term may alsobe interpreted to encompass commercial spots and other program-likecontent which may not be reported as a program in an electronic programguide.

Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certainembodiments”, “an embodiment” or similar terms means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the presentinvention. Thus, the appearances of such phrases or in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments without limitation.

The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive ormeaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means “any ofthe following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. Anexception to this definition will occur only when a combination ofelements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutuallyexclusive.

In certain embodiments consistent with the present invention, remotecontrol devices are utilized. Most prevalent of such devices includerelatively small hand-held battery operated controllers that art roughlyfive to ten inches in length and one to four inches wide. Such devicesuse infrared (IR) and/or radio frequency (RF) transmissions to sendencoded control messages to a target device such as a television,recorder, player, access device, set top box, control device, etc.Currently, the most prevalent class of such devices use a numeric keypad along with dedicated command keys such as [ON], [MENU], [PLAY],[RECORD], [GUIDE], etc. commands and keys representing channel andvolume up and down incrementing commands. Most also incorporate either ajog shuttle or other key, joystick or other manually manipulable controlmechanism that can be used to navigate about on screen displayed menusand the like. Examples include [UP], [DOWN], [LEFT] and [RIGHT] commandkeys that operate to move a cursor on screen together with a [SELECT](or equivalently [ENTER]) key that is used to select a highlighted menuselection.

However, embodiments consistent with the present invention are not to beconsidered to be limited to the exact command structure or commandsequence structure that are used in the remote control paradigm used insuch conventional remote controller devices. Equivalently, televisiondevices that are more computer based may utilize a point and clickparadigm for navigation of menus to issue equivalent commands. So, amouse, trackball, touch pad or other pointer device used in conjunctionwith a selection mechanism (e.g., a right or left click of a dual switchmouse) can produce equivalent set of commands and are entirelyequivalent for purposes of defining embodiments consistent with thepresent invention. Thus, playback from a PC device using MicrosoftWindows Media Player might include a sequence of operations includingpointing to a Windows Media Player icon, clicking on the icon, pointingto a “Library” tab and clicking on the “Library” tab, pointing to an“all video” menu selection and clicking, followed by pointing to a videoselection and clicking. Such a paradigm generally includes action of apointing device to point followed by clicking a pointer select button toimplement a selection operation. Thus, in a similar manner, if a user isto implement a [MENU] or [GUIDE] command using such a point and clickparadigm, the operation would involve manipulation of an on-screencursor to a desired menu location (icon, text, logo, image, thumbnail,etc.) representing a [MENU] or [GUIDE] function followed by an operationthat selects the command associated with the cursor location. Forpurposes of embodiments of this invention, this sequence of operationsis intended to be embraced in its entirety by the shorthand notation of[MENU] or [GUIDE] without regard for how such sequence of commands areimplemented.

At this writing, cursor movements have been implemented using any numberof functions including detection of wrist or hand motion using inertialdetectors, sometimes in connection with detection of gravitational forceas an up-down reference point. Movement to a particular cursor location(e.g., an edge or corner of the screen) can be used to invoke aparticular menu. An example of such devices is produced by HillcrestLaboratories, Inc. of Rockville, Md. which uses a scroll wheel andselect buttons in conjunction with motion sensing technology (referredto as Spontaneous Navigation™) configured in a circular doughnut shapeddevice that is hand held. In this device, navigation is carried out bymovement of the hand or wrist, and such movements are used incooperation with selection buttons and a scroll wheel. However, thisparadigm is but a newer incarnation of point and click functions thatuse different hand motions than those, for example, of a computer mouse.

Hence, in summary, when bracketed commands such as [ON], [MENU] or[GUIDE] are used herein, it is to be understood that equivalentfunctions can be carried out by point an click interfaces or other userinterface paradigms without departing from the teachings consistent withembodiments of the present invention. Such point and clickimplementations are functionally identical and within the scope of thepresent claims in that any command that implements the bracketed commandwill produce the video frame that can be interpreted by OCR processanalysis.

Embodiments consistent with the present invention may be carried outusing any number of control devices including television sets and otherdevices using or incorporating television receivers and/or the OCRfunctions described herein including digital television sets, set topboxes, set back boxes, digital video recorders, Blu-ray recorders,optical disc recorders, disc drive recorders and other devices withoutlimitation. Any exemplary illustrations depicted herein using any onesuch receiver device (e.g., a digital TV) should be interpreted asinclusive of any such device. Moreover, while the embodiments discussedherein by way of example describe operation under cable televisiondistribution systems, the technology can similarly be applied to contentdelivered by satellite or Telco operators. For purposes of the presentdiscussion, the term “access device” is intended to mean a device suchas a television set top box or other terminal that has direct access tothe service provider's metadata through digital data communication,whereas the term receiver device is generally intended to represent thedevice that receives video content from the access device, but is unableto directly access the digital representation of the metadata. Thereceiver device, by virtue of becoming the master to the access devicein accord with embodiments consistent with the present invention is alsoreferred to as a control device.

One of the primary constraints to providing a CE company with theability to provide their own control mechanism is the potentialinability to access the metadata associated with digital televisionprogramming. Normally such metadata are provided by the MSO to anapproved (e.g., leased) access device. There are three aspects to suchmetadata—navigation, scheduling and program information.

Navigation data are information that allows an application to know thata particular channel (e.g., channel “KPBS”) can be found on a particularlogical channel (e.g., channel “15”). (In the case of interactiveservices such as VOD, there is no logical channel, and the program islaunched by negotiating a number of on screen displays (OSDs) andfinally selecting the appropriate field from a list of choices.)Scheduling data are information that lets an application know that aparticular program (e.g., the “Newshour” program) starts at a particulartime and will last for a particular duration (e.g., starts at “7 pm” andwill last 1 hour). (Impulse Pay Per View (IPPV) is broadcast andtherefore has a dedicated start time, while VOD runs on individualsessions and can start anytime.)

Program data are information that provides other program relatedinformation. For example, program data lets an application know that the“Newshour” is classified as “News/Business”, contains Closed Captioning,and, like most news programs, is Not Rated. Program data may alsoinclude a short summary of the program's content.

In addition to data that are strictly considered to be metadata, byproperly commanding an access device such as a set top box, one can alsolearn other information about the access device, service provider anduser. Such other information can include service tier, model of accessdevice, service provider name, and other information. The term metadatais sometimes loosely used herein to describe not only metadata, but alsosuch other service related information.

An Optical Character Recognition (OCR) approach as described herein canbe used to obtain all or portions of one or all three of the abovemetadata. If the OCR approach is not used for all of the metadata, thensome type of other data source, back-channel or network connection mightbe used to supplement the information obtained by the OCR approachdescribed herein. Many OCR software modules which operate on numerousoperating systems can be used to carry out the OCR processes describedherein, and therefore, they will not be described in great detail. Byway of example, the commercially available Bizcardreader™ program canscan business cards and create a database from the information.

In accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, OCR and/or pattern recognition techniques are utilized tocapture metadata and/or command information associated with digitaltelevision content from a television receiver device serving as anaccess device. By doing so, the control of operation of the accessdevice and/or presentation of the metadata can be manipulated by anotherdevice (such as a television set or network server) without theconstraints imposed by a cable or satellite or Telco based televisionservice provider.

One example is depicted by flow chart 20 FIG. 1 starting at 24.Consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention, themetadata associated with the EPG that provides a schedule of thetelevision programming (Additional reference to the example EPGs ofFIGS. 2 and 3 may be helpful in readily grasping the presentdiscussion.) can be acquired by a process wherein a device such as atelevision receiver (e.g., a digital TV set) instructs an access device(e.g., a cable, satellite or Telco service provider supplied set topbox) to generate and communicate a signal suitable for driving a display(e.g., IEEE 1394, IP video or baseband video) at 28, wherein the signalcontains a visual representation of a video frame of the metadata whendisplayed on a display such as the electronic program guide. This signalis received and stored in memory at 32 as a representation of the videoframe containing the EPG. This video frame can then be processed at 36using pattern matching and/or optical character recognition to extractthe metadata from the video frame. As long as this data is newlydisplayed at 40 the process continues until all data have been displayedat which point the process ends at 44.

The extracted metadata can be stored in a metadata database at 48 foruse in construction of an alternate EPG by the receiver device (i.e.,one that is distinct from that of the access device). This process canbe systematically repeated by repeatedly sending a paging or otherincrementing command at 52 to page or step up or page step down or pageor step left or page or step right (e.g., page, left arrow, right arrow,up arrow, down arrow, etc.) in order to sequence through a plurality offrames of video containing the metadata in order to access and store atleast a subset of the metadata to the metadata database. Once a new pageis sent, the process repeats at 32 to acquire the new page for storagein the metadata database. In this representation, the action depicted at52 preferably pages through all available channels and all availabletimes so that, for example the system pages to the right for allavailable times for a given set of channels, and then pages up or downto begin acquisition of programming information for the next set ofchannels (which will then be paged through all available times). In thismanner a full set of program data can be acquired for all availablechannels and times.

It is noted that in the United States, there are a limited number ofservice providers available, each of which uses a more or lessconventional style of electronic program guide. Two examples areprovided in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen shotadapted from an EPG used by DISH Network™ (EchoStar TechnologiesCorporation) and FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot adapted from an EPGused by Comcast™ (Comcast Corporation). Actual screen shots and otherattributes may be copyright or trademarks of their respective owners. Itis noted that the metadata associated with the television programmingschedule is, in both cases and indeed in most EPGs, presented in aspreadsheet-like format time and date increasing from left to right inhalf hour increments with the channel and its associated program contentappearing in rows below or above the time information. Hence, allavailable data, usually extending out for a two week period of time, canbe obtained by systematically paging right to obtain future programmingcontent and paging up or down to obtain the content of another group ofchannels (usually about 5 channels per screen), with the channel andlogical channel number being presented in the leftmost column.

By having prior knowledge of the service provider with which the accessdevice is associated, the process can be simplified somewhat in thatonly specific portions of the captured screen image need be scanned fortext data that can be acquired via the OCR process. Thus, if theprogramming information is to be acquired in FIG. 2 or 3 data from thelower section depicted as 60 can be scanned repeatedly, paging right toobtain programming out to any desired time in the future (so long as newdata are available), and then the process can be repeated for theprogramming that appears after a page up or page down command in orderto capture program scheduling information for the next five logicalchannels.

Commonly, the metadata also incorporates more detailed information abouta particular program. Such information is commonly represented at leastin part on the EPG screen itself for a program that is highlighted onthe EPG. Examples of this are depicted as 64 in FIG. 2 or 3. Thisinformation may be complete as shown in FIG. 2 and represent the entireprogram detail, or may be abbreviated as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, if shownin total, the detailed information about each program can be captured byOCR processing region 64 while systematically stepping through allprograms shown on the EPG. System data and time can be obtained fromregion 66 using similar OCR technology. Alternatively, as in the case ofFIG. 3, the full program detail may not be available. In this case, an“information” command can be issued for each program in order to displaya detail page 68 for the particular program such as that shown in FIG.4. This detail page contains a more complete description of the program(i.e., full review) in region 70, system time in 74 and ratingsinformation in region 78. It is noted that even in the case depicted inFIG. 3, it may be desirable and possible to go to a separate detailscreen for each program which may have additional information that canbe acquired above and beyond that which is displayed on the main EPGscreen. In accordance with embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, the EPG may be explored to whatever depth further informationis available by traversing whatever information tree is present for theparticular service at issue.

Hence, in this manner a receiver device, such as a TV without access tothe native EPG data, creates a database of information from the videooutput of the access device. This precludes the need for the TV todirectly receive digital metadata in order to create its own EPG,timers, and content data screens. Periodically (for example, once every2 or 3 days) the TV can manipulate the access device (cable, satellite,Telco, etc.) to go through all its EPG and content data screens. Thiscan be done through remote control infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF)or CEA-931-B commands. When each screen is rendered, the video is thuscaptured and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is run. The informationis then interpreted and a content database is created. During thisprocess, the TV can also interpret the menus, EPG and on screen displays(OSDs), to take the next step in paging through all the EPG screens.This permits extraction of information such as the name of programs,obtaining the virtual numbers for channels, e.g. HBO or CNN, etc. aswell ac the content. The information is stepped through and displayed topresent all available current and future contents of the official guiderendered by the access device. This information is essentially a dump ofall of the access device's metadata content.

The receiver device can then use the “info” command to access additionaldetail available for each program to collect that sub-menu data abouteach program. Once the TV has this information stored in its ownmetadata database, it can then carry out any number of actions such ascreate its own EPG and create timers for recording, etc. without needfor direct access to the metadata and without need for any specialservice such as that provided by Tivo™ for the scheduling data required.All the data comes from the video of the slaved access device such as acable set-top box.

The TV receiver device can obtain its sense of time from the menus ofthe slave access device (such as a set-top box) by accessing the systemtime and date, e.g., from region 66 of FIG. 2, or by user entry. Also,since an actual human is not processing the screens, the menus can berobotically stepped through. It might take only minutes to display OCRprocess and capture the metadata from all the screens. The video screenscan be interpreted one at a time or the images can be batched andprocessed all at one time (e.g., during an initial operation and thensubsequently at periodic intervals of each day or each several daysduring a time that the TV is not in active use). The process wouldideally, but not necessarily, be done “offline” so processing speed maynot be an issue. However, only enough time is needed to briefly generateand capture each frame of the metadata in order to complete the metadatacapture.

It is noted that no cooperation from the service provider is needed tocarry out the processes described and no outside data source is needed(although use of an outside data source to augment the informationcaptured as described is not precluded). Embodiments consistent with theinvention display all the metadata on-screen in order to dump it fromthe access device receiver. All the metadata gets OCR processed andre-recorded by the controlling device, e.g. the digital TV. No otherdata source is needed so the limitations imposed by withholding accessto the metadata are effectively circumvented. Moreover, embodiments maybe utilized to communicate through video with no dedicated back channel.The embodiments disclosed does require a mechanism to control theoperation of the access device, e.g. an IR transmitter to transmitcommands, but then the information received is sent only as a videorepresentation. Hence, in some embodiments, an unsightly set top boxaccess device could even be totally hidden from view and controlled by acontrol device such as 102 using any suitable command mechanism.

Now consider the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5. Assume that the digitalTV 102 is connected to a cable set-top box 106 serving as an accessdevice to the MSO 110 via cable network 114. As described previously,the TV 102 tells the STB access device 106 to cycle through channels inthe manner described above by sending IR or RF remote control commandsor commands made by direct connection such as a CEC compliant HDMIcommand protocol or IEEE 1394 CEA 931-B compliant command protocol, suchcommands being issued as by remote command transmitter 118 that arereceived by a remote command interface 122. This results in STB 106generating a display of the EPG that is sent via the video outputinterface 126 to a video decoder 130. The video frame representing theEPG is then displayed and captured in a frame memory 134 of the digitalTV 102. An OCR function 138 is carried out on the stored frame stored in134 under control of (or as a computer program running on) the digitalTV's control processor 150. Once the OCR function has been carried out,the resulting information is stored in a metadata database 154, and canbe used, for example, to present the viewer a different user interface(UI) via TV user interface function 158. Metadata database 154 may beembodied in a hard disc drive or other storage medium that is used tostore the content. In other embodiments, the data can further be used tocreate timers for recording devices such as personal video recorders(PVR—also known as digital video recorder DVR), video tape recorders,optical disc recorders, disc drives, etc.

In accordance with embodiments consistent with the present invention,operation of the process is independent of the nature of the accessdevice so long as the receiver device such as 102 can use some mechanismto cause the access device to cycle through its pages of EPG and othermetadata. The STB 106, for example, may be enabled with an OCAP engine162 and will generally have its own user interface function 164, bututilizing embodiments consistent with the present invention, suchinterface can be supplanted or supplemented by capture of the metadatathat would otherwise be inaccessible to the digital TV 102.

In the event the access device is instructed to tune to a channel thatis not authorized, the access device can generate an OSD stating thatfact. In accord with preferred embodiments, the TV can interpret the OSDand tell the viewer that another channel needs to be tuned or theservice provider needs to be contacted. When the service provider isknown, such screens can be readily recognized and parsed by process 150.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the access device's UI can betotally replaced by a UI function 158 provided by the CE manufacturerwithout need to directly access the digital metadata. In such ascenario, the metadata stored in the metadata database are used togenerate a TV UI. Commands sent to the TV, for example, from a remotecommander that controls the UI can then be translated at processor 150to an appropriate command that is then transmitted by remote commandtransmitter 118 to remote command interface 122 so that the user can bepresented with the CE manufacturer's UI, yet the net effect is that theaccess device 106 becomes a slave to the digital TV which acts as amaster.

Metadata captured from OSDs can thus allow the CE manufacturer's TV orother receiver device to manage and proxy the service provider set-topbox (or other access device) into a home network with other devicesconforming to more open standards, e.g. DLNA. The TV could further actas a gateway device to transform and stream content in IPformat—allowing the TV or other interconnected devices to positionitself as a home media server—aggregating content, from disparatesources, and presenting a uniform user friendly interface to play andmanage content.

There are at least four scenarios currently envisioned for the OCRmetadata capture approach described above: 1) Local UI with compressedcontent output; 2) Local UI with re-compression of content; 3) RemoteUI; and 4) Metadata capture without content.

1) Local UI with Compressed Output (Cable Only)

Because most households receive content through Cable, it is appropriateto discuss solutions that might be applicable to just Cable. This OCRprocess exploits the FCC mandated, cable implemented IEEE 1394 interfaceto pass compressed, copy-controlled content from access devices such asSTB 106 to a controlling device, e.g. the DTV 102.

Unfortunately, while many OEM set-top boxes fielded by the cableoperators have the IEEE 1394 connector, the functionality is often notenabled despite by the FCC mandate. However, a set-back box designed tomount and work with a CE manufacturer's DTV could be assured to havethis interface enabled. This will be described as the “Local UI withCompressed Output” approach and is expanded upon in the paragraphsbelow.

The approach assumes a 2 device—OCAP-enabled set-back box andTV—combination in order to properly receive all content, output contentover IEEE1394, and capture metadata by OCR'ing the video.

The 2-way interactive set-back box will likely be OCAP and CableCARD™enabled. But, not all cable systems will be required to implement OCAPor support CableCARD™. In those systems, the following solution may beimplemented:

-   -   1. If there is a CableCARD™, but no OCAP support provided, then        the set-back box can render its own EPG. {The metadata that        populates the set-back box guide will be similar to 1-way        CableCARD™-enabled receivers and may be problematic as discussed        earlier in the Background.}    -   2. The set-back box will not be used and a cable operator        supplied set-top box will be supplied instead. In this case,        “Local UI with Re-compression” or “Metadata capture without        Content”, described below in the following sections, may be        used.

The “Local UI with Compressed Output” approach exploits the IEEE 1394interface for transmission and reception of the video as mandated by theFCC on all set-top boxes. This interface allows the TV 102 to access thecompressed content. IEEE 1394 is a robust interface that solves manyQuality-of-Service (QoS) issues that the service providers claim to havefor their service. It has the usual compliance and robustness rulesregarding its copy protection system—DTCP. However, so long as thecontent is safeguarded from illicit copying, the content can be sharedwith other devices. In this approach content can be shared without aservice operator controlled application.

The approach would ideally have the TV use High Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) for the video screen capture and OCR operation, andpass-through of remote control commands. The on-screen display renderedby the HDMI interface is of a higher resolution than that of basebandvideo. And the Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) pathway which is partof that interface can be used to send remote control commands to theset-back box. Therefore, a single connector can provide both the videoand set-top box control capability (i.e., serves the purpose depicted inFIG. 5 of elements 118, 122, 126 and 130 from the perspective ofconnection interface points for video and commands as used in accordwith the above discussion). Baseband video can also be used as analternative to HDMI for screen capture.

2) Local UI with Re-Compression

For Cable systems that do not support CableCARD™and/or OCAP, as well asfor the Satellite and Telco services, the customer will probably use aservice provider supplied set-top box.

In this scenario, it will be difficult for the controlling device, e.g.the digital TV, to directly obtain content in digital form. About theonly interface that is guaranteed is baseband video and audio. Suchbaseband video can be used in accord with the embodiments describedabove.

3) Remote UI

Soon, it is anticipated that content will be streaming into and aroundthe home using IP packets. Eventually, all content might be shared thisway. For bandwidth reasons, the content will likely be compressed.

Metadata may be delivered encrypted or in a proprietary format so thatonly certain licensed application, perhaps an OCAP applet, running onthe endpoint can gain access to the native digital metadata.Standardization groups like Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) aretrying to gain access to the metadata, but at this writing have notaccomplished the goal of standardization.

In this scenario, the above-described video capture and OCR applicationrunning in the control device, e.g. the digital TV (DTV), can grab thetext rendered on-screen as described. This situation will not require a“local converter” described below. The OCR application described abovedoes not need to access any video/audio content which might be presenton-screen and protected. Rather, only the “graphics plane” need beaccessed.

Alternatively, another approach is to create an endpoint for thedelivery of a service in a remote local set-top box. The control devicewould then manipulate the local converter. This problem then starts tolook a lot like the “Local UI” approach described above.

4) Metadata Capture without Content

One possibility of the control device (e.g., DTV 102) is to capturemetadata in order to simply be able to manipulate the service providersupplied set-top box without getting access to compressed (orre-compressed) content. In such a scenario, some of the serviceprovider's screens may be re-rendered. The following are some examples:

PVR Content on Set-Top Box

PVR timers can still be managed by the control device, e.g. DTV, byusing the active buttons [Record], and, if queried about recording tothe end of the show, pressing [Select] over the (YES)—a default field.

Perusing content on the PVR is generally done using the set-top box'sContent List because there is no other way to identify and retrievecontent from the hard disk drive. The Content List could also be OCRprocessed and stored to the control device's metadata database 154 asfurther data so that the content might be shown as available in anaggregated list of content from many sources. However, when selectingthis content, the set-top box PVR screens or equivalent thereof may needto be invoked using [PVR], and [Select] over (Recorded programs) field,and then the content list will scroll using [Arrow-down] to the programof interest (which will be become highlighted). After this, [Select],[Arrow-right], [Start-over] can be selected. This can be accomplished inan automated way wherein the control device sequences through the PVRscreens to select the content. This type of functionality desirably usesrapid, real-time OCR capability in order to avoid undesirable lags inperformance. Also, the service provider screen generated by the accessdevice might be hidden behind the control device (media server) screens.

IPPV Content Stored on Set-Top Box

Impulse Pay-per-View (IPPV) content can also be managed by the controldevice such as DTV 102 in accord with certain embodiments. IPPV is ascheduled event using a logical channel and time. It is similar to abroadcast event, except that there is a purchase screen. Afterpreviously capturing the metadata from the EPG, the control device cansimply enter the [Channel #], [Select] which would bring up the purchasescreen. This screen can be presented to the User or auto-purchased bythe control device. Purchasing typically means highlighting the (Yes)field and then selecting [Select].

Remote Control

The control device, e.g. the DTV 102, can manipulate the access device,e.g. the set-top 106 box using remote control commands just as a humanwould. If the remote control has a “hot key” to access a certain screen,the control device can use it. If broadcast content tuned using the10-key numeric keypad to tune, the control device can do this as well.The problem arises when options are only provided in lists in which auser must highlight in order to select. In this instance, the controldevice recognizes the entry in order to be able to select it. Asdiscussed later real-time OCR provides for this capability.

If a viewer can use the remote to display program and guide information,the control device can too. And then, all this information can be OCR'edin to a database.

Remote control commands can be issued using any the following or anyother suitable interface and control device:

-   1. IR or RF blaster-   2. HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC)-   3. 1394 AVC using CEA 931B-   4. Internet Protocol

The following are the minimum remote control Keycode set required byOCAP for Cable:

-   Hot Buttons: [Guide], [Cancel], [Select], [Select], [Power], [Info],    [Menu], [Exit], [Last], [Function 0-3][Favorite],[Next Favorite],    [On Demand]-   Tune: [Channel Up], [Channel Down], [RF Bypass]-   Sound: [Volume Up], [Volume Down], [Mute]-   Arrows: [Up], [Down], [Left], [Right]-   Page: [Up], [Down], [Left], [Right]-   10-key: [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and multiple digit combinations]-   Trick Play: [Fast forward], [Pause], [Rewind], [Skip Forward], [Skip    Back], [Stop], [Play], [Record]

These are the basic set that most remote controls support. Not listed bythe OCAP specification were: [Pip] and [Swap].

Special Symbols

When the various EPG and OSDs used by the various service providers areexamined in detail, it is apparent that some of the metadata and certainsymbols used for representation of commands and other functions arerepresented symbolically. It is desirable for such special symbols to berecognized in the OCR process. Accordingly, the OCR process may beaugmented by either addition of certain special characters to thealphabet recognized by the OCR process or characters separatelyrecognized using any suitable pattern matching and recognition algorithmin order to assure that the process does not mistake special charactersfor conventional alpha-numeric symbols.

An illustration of a partial listing of such special characters isdepicted in FIG. 6. Other special characters are also used by variousservice providers and can be similarly addressed. The Optical CharacterRecognition (OCR) application is preferably enabled to process suchsymbols. Depicted are right arrow 202, left arrow 206, up arrow 210,down arrow 214, locked symbol 218, unlocked symbol 222, star 226 (notethe stars used as ratings in FIG. 3-4), half star 230 (note the halfstar used as ratings in FIG. 3-4) and pay symbol 234. Such symbols maybe misidentified by a conventional OCR process unless modified to addthem to its alphabet or unless identified by an augmenting patternrecognition process.

In the EPG display the star and half star are used for example with thekey word “critique” to evaluate the quality of a program or movie,wherein more stars represent content of higher perceived quality (seearea 64 of FIG. 3). The various arrows are used to show that the programentry in the EPG is off-screen before or after the current time (or bothfor a long program) or that there are follow-on EPG screens before orafter the present one. The pay symbol 230 is used to indicate that apayment is required to view the content. The locked and unlocked symbols222 and 218 respectively represent the state of parental controlassociated with a particular program. Other EPGs may further have othergraphic symbols that can be represented to concisely convey variousinformation, and detection of such symbols are contemplated hereby evenif not expressly depicted.

In one embodiment, the OCR state machine is enabled to process patternmatch graphics information with the rough shape of the charactersdepicted. The various sizes of the symbols should be considered and mayvary among service providers. It is possible that once a determinationhas been made that a match has been found, that the graphics informationcan be saved. In subsequent searches, the exact pattern can be used todetermine a match to accelerate the matching process. In otherembodiments, the patterns can be predefined based upon a bitmap of theshapes to be detected. Thus graphics symbols are detected and the OCRand does not try to match the pattern to conventional “text”, butinstead properly assigns the meaning intended in the native frame ofvideo. Hence, the OCR program is enabled to look for these specialsymbols used in program and guide screens.

MSO Icon Recognition

In addition to returning special characters such as those discussedabove, the OCR process consistent with certain embodiments of thepresent invention preferably are also able to use pattern matching orother techniques to identify, e.g., by comparison with a stored set ofreference icons. The top 20 cable MSOs in the United States are theservice providers for approximately 90% of all cable televisioncustomers. Hence, there are a limited number of icons that the processis to recognize, thus dramatically simplifying the task of recognitionof the icons. Additionally, there are currently only two satellite DBSservice providers. While the Telcos are starting to provide competingservices, there are similarly very few of those as well. Hence, the icondatabase used for comparison could be relatively compact. By way ofexample, the DISH network™ logo 302 of FIG. 3 and the Comcast™ logo 306generally appear in one or more known locations of one or more knownscreens that can be displayed on command (e.g., the upper left corner ofthe EPG screen). The OCR process can therefore identify the contentsupplier by searching for its logo. Once identified, the layout and menutree for the OSD and EPG functions can be known in advance. This factorcan be used to limit searching for text and OCR recognition of text tolocations where text and characters representing desired metadata arelocated. If there is no match, then a new icon, if one is identified,can be stored in the database.

Service provider icons are typically rendered using the top guide menu[Menu]. The location of the icon on screen should preferably be returnedjust as with regular text. Recognition (and also perhaps ignoring) theseicons and other icons could not only help with installation of a controldevice with a set-top box under control but also help the state machinekeep track of states. The name of the service provider may thus be usedwith the control device's local database when identifying the source ofthe programming and also to help the OCR state machine with thehierarchical menus of that particular service provider.

Where the icons used by service providers may vary somewhat in size butotherwise remain the same, the OCR process can “box-off” the icon onscreen and compare it with stored icons. Various sizes of icons could bescaled and trialed to get a positive identification. In addition, thecolor of the icon is usually constant, thus, color matching can also beused to aid in identifying an MSO's particular icon. Additionally, theratio of colors may also be used to assist in identification of the icon(for example ⅓ white, ⅓ Indigo, ⅙ Red, and ⅙ green). Generally, the topprogram scene when the [Menu] command is issued should display theservice provider. If it doesn't, then the access device may haveencountered a malfunction.

Icons for channels could be examined as well. Analysis might actually beto ignore them so that the rest of the text based channel content couldbe scanned. Other unusual graphics might be detected so that they can beignored as well. For example, EchoStar has a stylized “star beam” at thebeginning of each channel list in the EPG. Each such unique attributecan contribute to detection of a particular service provider or serviceprovider's icon, and thus enhance the efficiency of the OCR process bylimiting the regions of the frame that are searched for metadata, andidentification of an alphabet of and location of special characters thatappear in the video frames.

Access Device Recognition

It is possible for a device to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR)to examine the text in the On-Screen Display (OSD) for installationpurposes of a device interfacing with another device. It is furtherpossible, once a service provider is identified and the access deviceand associated software version is identified, to more readily traversethe device's command tree or menu hierarchy by use of commands from thecontrol device.

For example, after sending the [Guide] remote control command, thefollowing information can generally be obtained:

1) Service provider (e.g., EchoStar, DirecTV, Comcast, Cox, Time Warner,etc.—for example by the logo identification at 302 or 306)

2) System time (e.g., at 66, 74 or 374).

After sending the [Menu], the text on screen is OCR'ed. The [Down arrow]can be used to highlight {Installation} {install} or similar text. Thenthe [Select] command can be issued to enter the install screen. Theinstall screen can be OCR processed. The [Down arrow] or othernavigation command (as determined by the menu hierarchy and layout) canthen be used to navigate to {System Set-up} or similar command. Thesetup screen can then be OCR processed. The [Down arrow] (or othernavigation commands) can then be invoked until the following informationis obtained by the OCR processing:

1) Model number of the access device (e.g., set-top box), and

2) Software version number for the access device's software.

Hence, embodiments consistent with the invention allow a control deviceto use OCR processing to learn the attributes of the access device it iscontrolling. It can learn the service that the set-top box is hooked upto as well as system time. The display mode setting can be determinedfrom the picture size OSD, e.g. 4×3 or 16×9 can be determined. This canbe helpful in setting-up a display device so that the image will rendercorrectly since many devices also have their own means of formatting theimage. If the access device outputs 4×3, the display device can be setfor 4×3 as well. It can also be determined whether or not the accessdevice has a “VCR set-up” menu. The VCR set-up menu might allow theaccess device itself to record content on external devices such as VCRor other external recording devices, e.g. Tivo™ brand devices. Anyfavorites that have been created by the user using the access device canbe displayed and recorded by the control device thus alleviating theneed for the user to reconfigure these again in the control device. Themodel # and software version number can be obtained. This allows thecontrol device to readily navigate hierarchical menus, since once thesefeatures are known, the sequence of commands necessary to navigate toany given point in the OSD or EPG or other portion of the menu systemcan be known.

The same type of OCR technique can be used to obtain informationassociated with a television access device used in a televisionreception system. In such a method carried out in a control device thatdoes not have direct access to the configuration information of theaccess device, the control device directs the access device to generateand communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving adisplay, wherein the signal contains a visual representation of one ormore successive video frames containing at least one or more of thefollowing: a service provider logo, a VOD channel accessible by theaccess device, a broadcast channel accessible by the access device, aprogram recorded on hard disk drive of the access device, an accessdevice model identifier, access device serial number, a display outputconfiguration, a storage configuration, a MAC address, a softwareversion and a system time on a display. Knowledge of some of thechannels available can help the control device determine the tier ofservice. This can be helpful in determining the channels that an accessdevice is subscribed to. Furthermore, by analyzing the local channels,it can be determined generally where in the country the access device islocated. For example, KTLA is the Los Angeles area while KFMB is SanDiego. The process then involves receiving the signal and storing arepresentation of the video frame, and processing the video frame usingoptical character recognition (OCR) and pattern matching to obtaininformation that identifies the service provider from the logo, VODchannel, broadcast channel, content stored on the PVR, the access devicemodel identifier, and the system time. This information can then bestored for a variety of uses by storing the extracted information in thecontrol device. By determining such information, the control device can,for example, deduce a service tier from the data. In one example case,if certain programming appears with a particular background color (asdescribed below) or simply appears in the program lineup, it is apparentthat the user has access to the content. Thus, a service tier can bedetermined. In other embodiments, the model number of the access devicecan be suggestive of its abilities, and thus a service subscribed to(e.g., the presence of internal storage, and active menu selections forplayback or display of stored content indicates that the access deviceis PVR enabled).

As a result, a Home Media Server can know what service a set-top box orother access device is hooked up to. The system time can be synchronizedamong the controlling device and any home network devices. Thehierarchical menus of an access device (dependent on Model # andsoftware version) can be determined so that further commands can moredirectly be issued in order to exercise control over the access devicein a slave capacity. Also, by knowledge of this information, templatingof the various display screens can be done from a template database tosimplify the process of OCR capturing metadata as described above, sincethe whole frame need not be processed each time a new frame isdisplayed. In certain embodiments, another time source can be utilizedif desired.

Point & Click Remote Control

As previously noted, new user interfaces are being introduced that use aso called “point and click” remote control and application running inthe access device. The functionality is similar to that used with PCsusing the Windows operating system. This type of remote controltypically has only a few buttons, e.g. left, right and scroll. There isa cursor on screen which moves with the movement of the wrist when theremote is in a user's hand. The buttons previously found on the remotecontrols are now options, lists of icons, rendered on-screen. The iconsappear when the cursor is moved to certain area of the screen. To selecta function, the cursor must be moved over the icon and then usually aright or left click can select it. The method for obtaining metadatadescribed herein is consistent with the “point and click” remotecontrol. The icons must be identified and located on-screen. Later, whenstepping an access device through its screens, the cursor must be movedover the appropriate icon and then the “select” command issued. Toback-out of certain menus, the cursor is moved to the cancel icon withthe “select” command issued. Some “point and click” remotes use eitherthe left or right button (the one not used for the “select” function) tobring up a “home functionality” were other options can be selectedon-screen, e.g. TV, Info, or PIP. All these can be automaticallynavigated by the control device as with the multi-button remote.

Color Processing

Color has become an important part of the information displayed inon-screen displays such as an EPG, and yet color is ignored byconventional OCR programs. Color is often used to convey variousinformation such as the following: 1) highlighting a field (showing thatthe cursor is over a particular field—as illustrated by the shading ofthe program at channel 4 in FIG. 3 or 4); 2) authorization status in theguide (red is often used to reflect a channel with non-authorized statuswhich would cause tuning to fail); 3) parental rating of the program;and 4) program type, e.g. movie is green, series is orange, etc.

In accordance with embodiments consistent with the invention, analysisof the frames of video stored will preferably also return the color ofthe background associated with each block of text found for whichbackground color might be relevant. During installation, the highlightcolor of EPG data can be determined. Also, the highlight color ofhierarchical menu field can be determined.

In order to extract metadata through OCR processing of an EPG, ahardware or software state machine can be created. The state machineuses up, down, page-up, page-down arrows (e.g., using an IR blaster) tostep the access device set-top box through all its hierarchical menu,guide and program related screens. It would be very helpful to the statemachine to confirm that a field has in fact been selected. Detection ofthis information can be used to assure that, the access device does notbecome out-of-sync with the OCR state machine of the control device,e.g. TV or Home Media Server. Once the field is selected the [Info]command or equivalent may be used with a program to get expandedinformation. If the field is a hierarchical menu choice, e.g. “movies”subset, then a [Select] command or equivalent would be used totransition to a screen list of movies.

Hence, in addition to conventional OCR functions, the OCR applicationused in preferred embodiments should also return a color code for thebackground of text. Care should be taken not to confuse shadowing ortext highlights with the background color. Knowledge of the particularfonts used in a given service provider's access devices for a givenmodel number and software revision can assist in assuring that thebackground color is actually identified.

In one embodiment, during the installation operation, a channel isselected from the guide menu. This can be accomplished in someenvironments by sending a channel number to the access device. Thecurrent program of the channel will then be highlighted. The backgroundof this text can then be stored and interpreted as the “selectedhighlight” color. In addition, if the background color of a channel nameis red, then the OCR state machine can confirm that it is a channel thatis not subscribed and that the [Guide—All Channels] selection has beenchosen (for example). The exact red color can be pinned down bydeliberately selecting an unsubscribed channel (similar to highlightedcolor described above).

Also, during the installation operation, the highlight color ofhierarchical menu fields can be determined. The way to do this is tocompare the background colors of all the fields. The one that isdifferent is the highlight color for hierarchical menu fields. Thiscolor will likely be different than those in the EPG.

Usually, the text itself changes color and not just the background. Thecolor of the text while selected can also be recorded and used with thestate machine to help identify selected menu elements. Knowledge of theletters can be used to make sure that pixel color from that making up aletter is chosen.

The OCR state machine can sequence through all the programs in the EPGas discussed previously. Some programs will be partially off screen asthe start and stop times will not all be within the view of the EPGshown on screen. When the down arrow is used, the highlighted text canbe confirmed to be that of interest.

As part of OCR processing, the location on screen is returned with thetext from a particular OCR text block. The color of pixels slightlyoutside the block can be compared if found to be the same stored as the“background color”. The color scheme of the particular EPG is oftenchangeable by the customer, so a determination of highlight color mighthave to be done whenever the OCR state machine believes it isout-of-sync with the access device set-top box unless it can bedetermined that the customer has changed or is changing the color scheme(through real-time OCR interpretation).

In another approach the OCR process can use knowledge of the letters ina particular block to find pixels around the text. For example, pixelsfrom inside the “o”, “p” or “b” might be used. In the case thebackground and foreground colors can be readily distinguished uponidentification of one of these characters and analysis of the colors ofthe pixels associated therewith.

OCR State Machine

In the present application, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) ispreferably a software application running on a processor such as 150 ofthe control device, e.g. a DTV 102. The OCR process can operate on anysuitable operating system such as for example Linux and can run, forexample, on a MIPS CPU. The OCR capability translates video screenimages of OSD text into a machine-editable text. Combined with an OCRState Machine cognizant of hierarchical menus of the target set-top box,all of the metadata may be displayed and captured into a new metadatadatabase in the control device.

There are many commercially available versions of OCR software that canreadily be adapted to the present application. The quality of OCRsoftware has greatly improved over the years. There are modules forLinux as noted above as well as C/C++ versions that are available toallow tailoring to the present metadata capture requirements.

In order to use OCR, a video screen capture to frame memory 134 with theOSDs first takes place as described above. The capture can be BMP, JPEGor many other formats can be used. Most decoder ICs such as thosecommercially available from manufacturers including, but not limited to,ATI, Broadcom and Conexant have the ability to read the graphics bufferto capture what is present in the buffer to a separate file.

As previously noted, one possibility is for the controlling device tosequentially “batch” the process—go through and capture all the EPG andcontent data screens in separate files so that the OCR operation can beprocessed in the background in an off-line fashion. This would minimizethe time between all the various screens.

There are a number of optimizations which may be implemented toconfigure the engine for the task at hand—no handwriting recognition,processing only one type of image (such as JPEG), limiting possiblefonts, and limiting processing to one screen at a time. In addition,scanning might be performed only on certain sections of the screen andthen verified against a relatively small list words in a database.

This approach re-creates a database of information from the video outputor remote display of a “slaved” access device receiver. The video outputor remote display is processed through Optical Character Recognition(OCR) technology which can recognize words. Periodically (e.g., onceevery 2 or 3 days) the controlling device manipulates the access deviceto go through all its EPG and content data screens. This can be donethrough remote control IR or Consumer Electronics Association StandardCEA-931-B compliant commands, for example. When each screen is rendered,the video screen is captured and the OCR process is run. The capturedinformation is then interpreted and the metadata database is created orupdated.

Example Process Overview

Below is an exemplary step by step process that can be used for anillustrative access device. Those skilled in the art will understandthat other process details may be required to facilitate control ofother access devices. First, it should be noted that the process willlikely begin with some type installation process. However, preferably,the installation process should auto-detect the service provider andreceiver from an OSD rendered thereby. This can be accomplished bymanually or by trial issuing a [Menu] command and installation, theparticular set-top box model number may be obtained. Knowing theparticular set-top box helps with negotiating hierarchical menus andspecial PVR and IPPV screens.

The following example depicts the process used with a Comcast, MotorolaModel # 329 access device set top box. A similar process can be devisedfor other access devices.

-   0: Installation    The receiver will be made to periodically render all its EPG and    related program data in order for it to be OCR'ed into a database.    This can be done during late hours of the night, e.g. 3 am, and    chosen by the user in accordance with certain embodiments.-   1: Initialization [Cancel], [Cancel], [Cancel]

Eliminates any OSDs which might be on-screen

Menus can usually nest 3 levels deep; consequently 3 or more consecutivecancel Remote Control commands should generally suffice to return theset-top box to its top level—i.e., a known entry point from which theprocess is to proceed.

-   2: Top Menu: [Menu] {SCAN}

Should display the “Main Menu”—Main menu selections for example, mayinclude those shown in the tables below.

All content menu paths should be noted:

TV Listings Movies ON DEMAND Sports HDTV Kids

Configuration and info paths can be ignored

Search Parental Locks Favorites Messages Set-up Help

Top menu item should be highlighted

OCR module should recognize not only the text “TV Listings” but alsothat it is selected (or permit navigation to TV Listings and verify thatthe item has been highlighted).

If correctly hightlghted, then the [Select] command is issued.

From here the process can proceed to the television program listings todisplay a listing similar to that of FIG. 3.

-   3: Inside TV Listings: [1] [Enter]

Should display the top of “TV Listings” Menu

{SCAN}

The following should match the database of acceptable text:

Channel Names (most)

Date, Day, Time

Program Names (many)

Rating, Closed Captioning

If there is no match, then extra processing may be carried out to assurethe accuracy of the text

A database template is filled in with data from the OCR operation

[Info] should bring up the expanded program information

At this point, the expanded information such as that appearing in FIG. 4should appear.

-   4: Access other main menu content:-   Re-initialize [Cancel][Cancel][Cancel] to get to the Top Menu.-   Once at the Top Menu [Menu][page down] [page down] [select] commands    will navigate to the “On Demand” pages.

Once On Demand pages are displayed

{SCAN}

All content menu paths can be noted to identify the command sequencethat will permit later navigation thereto:

Movies Sports & Fitness Premiums Kids & Teens Cable Favorites MusicLifestyle Help and Services News & Info Saved Programs

Fortunately, as mentioned above, OSDs generally comprise a limitedvocabulary. The words obtained through OCR can be run through a programto correct errors and filter out artifacts.

The control device may also be able to key in on certain words todetermine whether an error message has been placed on screen in order totake corrective action, if any. In other embodiments, the text may becompared with a stored collection of error messages that appear on OSDsin order to take corrective action.

State Diagram

A state diagram 350 depicting operation of the overall process is shownas FIG. 8. In this state diagram, the OCR process first initializes at354. During this initialization, the following actions are carried out:

-   Auto-scan set-top box OSD-   Installation:

Determine

-   -   Remote Control set    -   STB Model #, features    -   Service Provider    -   System Time

Control then passes to 354 where the following actions are carried out:

-   Initialize service provider channel database

Determine

-   -   Channel Line-up (Tier of Service) (if already captured, any        changes)    -   Local Line-up    -   Correct Local Channel Names    -   Determine HD/SD assignments

Control then passes to 358 where the following actions are carried out:

-   Determine where 2 week guide is out-of-date, and go get data to    populate database:

Line-up beginning of guide

Acquire schedule,

Program name Info

Acquire [info] for each program

Inventory content on HDD, space available

The process then determines if the channel map has changed at 362 and ifso, returns to 354. If not, the process sleeps until a designated orwaits for a designated time period and then returns to 358.

Real Time OCR

It is possible for interactive programs, such as a VOD or programsrecorded on the hard disk drive, to be selected from the list by thecontrol device. The application running on the media server can sequencethe set-top menus by invoking and traversing VOD screens, and findingthe name of the program in the set-top box list and then sending[Select].

As an alternative to “real-time” OCR processing, a control device mightattempt VOD or PVR screens to learn the index and position of thecontent in the various screens ahead of time, e.g. when the basic guidecontent is acquired. Upon selection by the user, the user providerscreens must be re-invoked, but they would be mechanically steppedthrough without immediate interpretation.

Another possibility to real-time or prior OCR processing, is a modewhere certain service provider screens are allowed to be rendered on theTV screen—a mix mode of operation. In this case, the “real-time” partmight be simply the user scrolling through a list of VOD or recordedprograms to find the program of interest and confirming purchase of theVOD program (if need be).

It is possible for the control device to hide the set-top box screensand only render its own screens, thus changing the look and feel of theuser interface.

Installation

Ideally, installation would be a totally hands-off operation wherethings “just work” without user involvement. About the only thing theuser need be concerned with is properly cabling the devices.

A. Trialing RC Commands

If directly connected to a set-top box, the control device can determinewhether or not the set-top box is powered up or not by detecting syncsignals over baseband video, Digital Visual Interface (DVI) or HDMI. Thecontrol device can trial remote control (RC) commands in order to turnon the set-top box. Confirmation will be that a sync signal is detectedalbeit possibly with a blank display. The RC command set can beconfirmed by having the set-top box bring up the installation menu. Ifthe menu does not render, then other possible RC codes can be trialuntil the menu finally renders.

An exemplary embodiment of this process is depicted in FIG. 9 as process400 starting at 402. At 406, the process is initialized by selecting afirst set of remote control (e.g., IR or RF remote control commandstransmitted by a so-called “blaster” device that sends commands to theaccess device) to be trialed. This can be done by, for example, movementof a pointer to a desired set of RC commands in memory. The video outputof the access device is then checked for the presence of a video syncsignal. Presence of a video sync signal at 410 indicates that the accessdevice is on at 414. If there is no video sync, this is indicative thatthe access device is off or in a standby mode as indicated at 418.Preferably, but not necessarily, the access device 106 is off or in astandby mode at 418, which gives the control device 102 the opportunityto verify several fundamental commands.

If the access device is off at 106 or in standby mode and producing novideo at 418, the [ON] command (power on) is retrieved from the firsttrial set of commands to be tested at 422. This first trial [ON] commandis then transmitted at 426 to the access device. If the access devicebegins producing video sync at its output at 430, control passes to 414where it can be deduced that the [ON] command from the first trialcommand set is good. If no video is detected, the process increments tothe next command set at 434 where a new [ON] command is selected at 422and that command is trialed as before. This process continues until anoperative [ON] command is identified. Once an operative [ON] command isidentified, control passes to 414.

From 414, the process retrieves a [MENU] command from the currentcommand set at 440 (in other embodiments, any other suitable command canbe issued that can be verified using the OCR technique as will bedescribed, but the [MENU] command is a convenient expedient to thisprocess). This [MENU] command is transmitted to the access device at444, and the output is processed at 448 using an OCR processing of thevideo output to determine if a recognizable main menu is displayed. If amenu is detected at 442, the current command set can be presumed to be alikely good command set and the set is selected at 456. If desired ordeemed advantageous, or if there remains question as to whether thecommand set is correct, other commands can be similarly trialed at 460until the command set can be deemed verified at 464 at which point theprocess returns at 468. The necessity of such verification will dependupon the uniqueness of the command sets, and new commands can beselected that will distinguish between multiple command sets.

In the event a menu is not identified at 452, a new command set isselected at 472. If the process began with video off at 418, it will beknown at this point that only command sets that include the functional[ON] command need be trialed. Additionally, if at 472, a functional[MENU] command has already been determined, then only command setscontaining such functional [MENU] command need be trialed. In the eventthe process started with 418 and an access device that is off or onstandby mode, then both [ON] and [MENU] commands will be known to befunctional at 472, thus substantially narrowing the number of commandsets that are to be trialed. Hence, the process can continue to iterateif need be to identify a best fit of command sets that can be used tocontrol the access device via the control device. It is noted that theverification process is shown in broken lines to indicate that they areoptional, if establishment of an [ON] and/or [MENU] command uniquelydefines the command set. It is noted that in other embodiments, othercommands could be trialed including, for example, a [GUIDE] command thatwould be expected to render an electronic program guide.

Thus, in accord with certain embodiments, a method of identifying afunctional command set for an access device that accesses televisionprogramming provided by a service provider involves, at a controldevice, transmitting a command from a first command set to the accessdevice; ascertaining whether or not the access device provides a correctresponse to the command, wherein: if the command comprises an [ON]command, then the ascertaining is carried out by determining if a videosynchronization signal is produced by the access device; and if thecommand comprises a command that is expected to generate a textcontaining video frame, then the ascertaining is carried out bydetermining if the text containing video frame is displayed by using anoptical character recognition process to extract text from the videoframe to determine if the video frame corresponds to the expected textcontaining video frame.

In certain embodiments, the method further involves conducting averifying process in which additional commands are transmitted that areexpected to result in generating an additional text containing videoframe, and ascertaining that the resulting additional text containingvideo frame contains text corresponds to the additional expected textcontaining video frame by using the OCR process to extract text from theadditional text containing video frame. In certain embodiments, thecommand comprises a [MENU] command and the text containing video framecomprises an on screen display of a menu. In certain embodiments, thecommand comprises a [GUIDE] display command and wherein the textcontaining video frame comprises an on screen display of a programguide. In certain embodiments, if the access device does not provide acorrect response to the command, then the transmitting and ascertainingprocesses are repeated for additional command sets until a correctresponse is produced by the access device. In certain embodiments, theOCR processing is carried out on a selected segment of the video frame.In certain embodiments, the OCR process is enabled to detect specialsymbols in the video frames. In certain embodiments, the special symbolsinclude logos of one or more service providers or television channels.In certain embodiments, the transmitting comprises transmitting of oneof an infrared remote control command and an RF remote control command.In certain embodiments, a computer readable storage medium storesinstructions which, when executed on a programmed processor, can carryout any of the above processes.

In certain embodiments, a control device that identifies a functionalcommand set for an access device that accesses television programmingprovided by a service provider has a memory storing a plurality of setsof remote commands. A video input is coupled to the access device forreceiving video signals. A video synchronization detector is provided. Aframe store stores a video frame received at the video input. An opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) machine carries out an OCR process on thevideo frame stored in the video frame store. A transmitter transmits acommand from a first of said command sets to the access device. Wherein,the control device ascertains whether or not the access device providesa correct response to the command by: if the command comprises an [ON]command, then the ascertaining is carried out by determining if a videosynchronization signal is produced by the access device and detected bythe video synchronization detector; and if the command comprises acommand that is expected to generate a text containing video frame, thenthe ascertaining is carried out by determining if the text containingvideo frame is displayed by using an optical character recognitionprocess to extract text from the video frame stored in the frame storeto determine if the video frame corresponds to the expected textcontaining video frame.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a system in which the above process can bepracticed is depicted. In this embodiment, central processor 150 carriesout the above process as remote command set identifier routine 508stored in memory 504 (e.g., disc memory or other nonvolatile memory).The various command sets are also stored in memory as RC command sets512, 516 through 520. The remote command transmitter may be any suitabletransmitter that is compatible with a receiver within access device 106such as an infrared or RF transmitter 118 similar to that used in an STBremote control. Video decoder 130 provides an output that is indicativeof the presence of a frame synchronization signal that can be detectedby central processor 150.

B. Scanning Set-Top Box and Service

Once the installation menu renders, the control device can scan for themodel ID and version of code. Next the guide menu can be rendered using[Guide]. From the guide menu, the service provider can be identified(e.g., by icon or logo 306 of FIG. 3-4 and system time can be obtainedfrom 374 of FIG. 3.

The model number can also often be obtained as well by invoking [Menu]and [System Information]. The following can be learned using informationobtained by OCR scanning of the displayed information:

HD capable

DVR capable

Number of tuners

Hard disk drive space

By invoking [PVR], the list of programs stored on the hard disk drivemay be scanned along with time remaining.

Limited Vocabulary

Program and guide information usually conforms to a limited vocabularyof text, numbers, punctuation, standard symbols, special symbols andcontractions. The text for program information, e.g. plot synopsis, islimited to a 7^(th) grade dictionary plus proper names. Table 1 below isa summary of the typical current vocabulary and certain symbols and issubject to change.

TABLE 1 Limited Vocabulary Time 1:00 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:00pm, 3:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 5:00 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm, 7:00pm, 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:00 pm, 9:30 pm, 10:00 pm, 10:30 pm,11:00 pm, 11:30 pm, 12:00 am, 12:30 am, 1:00 am, 1:30 am, 2:00 am, 2:30am, 3:00 am, 3:30 am, 4:00 am, 4:30 am, 5:00 am, 5:30 am, 6:00 am, 6:30am, 7:00 am, 7:30 am, 8:00 am, 8:30 am, 9:00 am, 9:30 am, 10:00 am,10:30 am, 11:00 am, 11:30 am, 12:00 pm, 12:30 pm, Times not on half houruse: ( ) {example (12:05), (01:40)} Day Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat,Sun Date Year: (range 1930 to present) Month/Day {example 8/14} ProgramInformation Rating: NR, R, PG, PG13, R, X, TVY, TVY7, TVY7FV, TVPG,TV14, TV MA, SC, L Category: Serial/Special, News, Family Series/SpecialMiscellaneous Closed Captioning: (CC) Audio: (Stereo) Reruns: New,Repeat Special Characters (also see FIG. 6 Program length off-screen:

,

Title is truncated: . . . Comments: Critique: Title To Be Announced HotScreen Buttons Done, Delete, Erase, Start-over, Resume Channel Names A&EESPN2 HN MYST SUNDw ACT-E ESPNC HOTNT NGEO TBN AMAX ESPNN HSN NICK TBSAMC FAM IC NOG/N TCM APL FLIXe IFC NTOON TDISP BBC FMC ILIFE NWI TECHBET FNC KBDI OUTCN TLC BETJ FOOD KCEC OUTLF TMAX BIO FOXSP KCNC OVATTMCe BLOOM FSN KDEN OXGN TMCXe BRAVO FS-RM KDVR PLAY TNN BSTZ FUSE KMASPLEX TNT CMT FX-W KMGH SCICH TOON CNBC G4 KPXC SFC TRAVL CNN GA KRMASHOe TRIO COMW GAC KTVD SHOFe TRU-E COURT GAME KUSA SHONe TVGC CSPAN GASKWGN SHOTe TVLND CSPN2 GOLF LIFE SHOWCe TWC D-H&L HBO2E LMN SHOWe USAD-HC HBOCM LOCAL SHOWXe VH1 DIS HBO-E LOVE SNBC VH1C D-KID HBOFE MAX-ESPCE2 VH1CR DSC HBOSE MBC SPEED VH1SO DTMS HBOZN MC SPICE WAM! D-WNGHGTV MMX-E STYLE WE E! HIS-I MSNBC STZ WGN EDUC HIST MTV STZe WORD ENCRHLMRK MTV2 STZf WSDM ESPN HLTH MTVH STZT WSTN Local Channels Affiliatesfor ABC CBS NBC PBS FOX {These will vary for each locality} 041- WB 00,051-00, 006-00 039-00, 015-00, 010-00 069-00, 008-00

OCR Speed-Ups

The following are possible “procedural” improvements to the metadatacollection operation:

-   1. The control device might take advantage of the viewing habits of    the user so that the most frequently watched channels and programs    have the highest priority of data collection.-   2. Programs that are scheduled for repeated recording also have a    high priority.-   3. There are a number a limited number of EPG layouts. These can be    templated to facilitate OCRing of only the information desired.

Issues with Interactive Content

Interactive content such as VOD is not found on a specific channel thatcan be tuned like broadcast content. There are no virtual channels whichcan be direct tuned. Real-time interactions between the server and theset-top box set-up unique stream sessions. Trick play commands such aspause, rewind, etc. are sent to the headend to control the play out ofcontent.

VOD is typically “Copy Never” since the content is stored at the headendunder user control. There is not much that a control device can do withthis control since it cannot be archived. What would be desirable,however, is for the controlling device to be aware of this content inorder to create unique selection screens advertising it. When a customerselects this content, the controlling device can sequence the serviceprovider screens to arrive at the purchase screen. The customer can thenconfirm that it is his or her intent to purchase the VOD program.

The way menus are captured might allow VOD and PPV content informationto be recorded as well. This information can then be re-rendered by theremote TV's EPG.

Thus, a method of obtaining metadata associated with televisionprogramming, wherein the method is carried out in a control device thatdoes not have direct access to the metadata involves instructing anaccess device to generate and communicate a signal to the control devicesuitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains a visualrepresentation of a video frame of the metadata when displayed on adisplay; receiving the signal and storing a representation of the videoframe; processing the video frame using optical character recognition(OCR) to extract the metadata from the video frame; storing theextracted metadata in a metadata database; and systematically repeatingthe instructing, receiving, processing and storing to sequence through aplurality of fields of video containing the metadata to access and storeat least a subset of the metadata to the metadata database.

In certain embodiments, the method further involves retrieving theextracted metadata from the metadata database and generating a userinterface display therefrom that incorporates at least a portion of themetadata. In certain embodiments, the metadata can be stored with thecontent, for example, wherein the subset of metadata can be stored withcontent that the metadata describes. In certain embodiments, the, therepresentation of the video frame can be one of a compressedrepresentation and a bitmapped representation. In certain embodiments,the instructing comprises sending a guide display command or aninformation command to the access device. In certain embodiments, asubsequent instance of the instructing includes transmitting anincrementing command to either page up, page down, page left, pageright, step up, step down, step left or step right, to sequence throughthe plurality of fields of information. In certain embodiments, asubsequent instance of the instructing includes issuing a command toenter an information screen associated with a television programidentified in video frame. In certain embodiments, information forindividual television programs is represented by hierarchical layers ofvideo frames, and wherein in a subsequent instance of the instructing,the instructing includes issuing a command to display a framerepresenting a different layer in the hierarchy.

In certain embodiments, processing the video frame includes processing aselected segment of the video frame using optical character recognitionto extract the metadata from the video frame. In certain embodiments,the method further involves the OCR process being enabled to detectspecial symbols in the video frames. In certain embodiments the specialsymbols include at least one of a right arrow symbol, a left arrowsymbol, a up arrow symbol, a down arrow symbol, a locked symbol, aunlocked symbol, a star symbol, a half star symbol and a pay symbol. Incertain embodiments, the OCR process is augmented by pattern matching todetect special symbols in the video frames. In certain embodiments, thespecial symbols include logos of one or more service providers or logosof channels. In certain embodiments, the frame further includes systemtime and the OCR process further extracts the system time. In certainembodiments, the OCR process is enabled to identify foreground andbackground colors of text in the video frames to identify attributesassociated with the video frames. In certain embodiments, attributesinclude one of a highlighted field, an attribute of a virtual channeland an attribute of a program. Certain embodiments can be embodied by acomputer readable storage medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted on a programmed processor, carry out any of the aboveprocesses. In certain embodiments, the instructions are transmitted bytransmitting of one of an infrared remote control command, an RF remotecontrol command, a CEC compliant HDMI command or an IEEE 1394 CEA 931-Bcompliant command.

Thus, a control device that obtains metadata associated with televisionprogramming, wherein the control device does not have direct access tothe metadata, has an instruction transmitter that transmits instructionsto an access device to cause the access device to generate andcommunicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving adisplay, wherein the signal contains a visual representation of a videoframe of the metadata when displayed on a display. A receiver receivesthe signal. A frame store stores a representation of the video frame. Anoptical character recognition (OCR) processor extracts the metadata fromthe video frame using character and symbol recognition. A storage devicestores the extracted metadata in a metadata database. A controlprocessor systematically causes the control device to repeats thetransmitting of instructions, receives and stores the video frame, OCRprocessing and storing to the metadata database to sequence through aplurality of fields of video containing the metadata to access and storeat least a subset of the metadata to the metadata database.

In certain embodiments, the control device further has a user interfacegenerator that retrieves the extracted metadata from the metadatadatabase and generates a user interface display therefrom thatincorporates at least a portion of the metadata. The subset of metadatamay be stored with content that the metadata describes. The instructiontransmitter may transmits one of a guide display command, an informationdisplay command or navigation commands to the access device. Thetransmitter may transmit one of an infrared remote control command, anRF remote control command, a CEC compliant HDMI command or an IEEE 1394CEA 931-B compliant command.

Thus, in certain embodiments, a method of obtaining informationassociated with a television access device used in a televisionreception system, wherein the method is carried out in a control devicethat does not have direct access to the configuration information of theaccess device involves directing the access device to generate andcommunicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving adisplay, wherein the signal contains a visual representation of one ormore successive video frames containing at least one or more of thefollowing: a service provider logo, a VOD channel accessible by theaccess device, a broadcast channel accessible by the access device, aprogram content stored on the access device, an access device modelidentifier, a MAC address, a software version and a system time on adisplay; receiving the signal and storing a representation of the videoframe; processing the video frame using optical character recognition(OCR) and pattern matching to extract information from the video frame;and storing the extracted information to a configuration database in thecontrol device.

In certain embodiments, the extracted information identifies the serviceprovider from at least one of the logo, VOD channel, broadcast channel,content identified as stored on the access device a hard PVR, the accessdevice model identifier, and the system time. In certain embodiments,the method further involves templating display screens used by theaccess device based upon the information and extracting by OCRprocessing of data displayed in selected areas of the templates;instructing the access device to generate and communicate a signal tothe control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signalcontains a visual representation of a video frame of the metadata whendisplayed on a display; receiving the signal and storing arepresentation of the video frame; processing the video frame usingoptical character recognition (OCR) to extract configuration informationfrom the video frame; and storing the extracted configurationinformation in a configuration database. In certain embodiments, theconfiguration information from the configuration database can be used tocontrol the access device. In certain embodiments, the representation ofthe video frame includes one of a compressed representation and abitmapped representation. In certain embodiments, the instructingincludes sending one or more of the following to the access device: menudisplay command, a guide display command, a system setup displaycommand, a preferences display command, a installation display command,a diagnostics display command, a HDTV set-up command, and a factorydefaults display command. In certain embodiments, the directing includestransmitting a menu command to the access device. In certainembodiments, processing the video frame involves processing a selectedsegment of the video frame using optical character recognition toextract the configuration information from the video frame. In certainembodiments, the OCR process is enabled to detect special symbols in thevideo frames. In certain embodiments, the special symbols include atleast one of a right arrow symbol, a left arrow symbol, a up arrowsymbol, a down arrow symbol, a locked symbol, a unlocked symbol, a starsymbol, a half star symbol and a pay symbol. In certain embodiments, theOCR process is augmented by pattern matching to detect special symbolsin the video frames. In certain embodiments, the special symbols includeat least one of a right arrow symbol, a left arrow symbol, a up arrowsymbol, a down arrow symbol, a locked symbol, a unlocked symbol, a starsymbol, a half star symbol and a pay symbol. In certain embodiments,theOCR and pattern matching process is enabled to identify colorsindicative of a plurality of service providers. In certain embodiments,the directing comprises issuing the following sequence of commands:[guide] to identify the system time and service provider, and a [menu][system setup] to identify a model number of the access device and asoftware version number. In certain embodiments, the commands arepreceded by a plurality of [cancel] commands to assure exit from anymenu hierarchy and establish a known state. In certain embodiments, oneor more of the commands are made by producing a sequence of navigationcommands followed by a [select] command. In certain embodiments, thedirecting is carried out by a trial and error process of commands knownto invoke display of the program guide frame. In certain embodiments, acomputer readable storage medium stores instructions which, whenexecuted on a programmed processor, carry out any of the aboveprocesses.

In certain embodiments, a control device for obtaining informationassociated with a television access device used in a televisionreception system, wherein the control device does not have direct accessto the configuration information of the access device has a commandtransmitter that sends commands directing the access device to generateand communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving adisplay, wherein the signal contains a visual representation of one ormore successive video frames containing at least one or more of thefollowing: a service provider logo, a VOD channel accessible by theaccess device, a broadcast channel accessible by the access device, aprogram content stored on the access device, an access device modelidentifier, a MAC address, a software version and a system time on adisplay. A receiver receives the signal and a frame store stores arepresentation of the video frame. A processor, hardware or softwarebased, processes the video frame using optical character recognition(OCR) and pattern matching to extract information from the video frame.The extracted information is stored to a configuration database in thecontrol device.

Those skilled in the art will recognize, upon consideration of the aboveteachings, that certain of the above exemplary embodiments are basedupon use of a programmed processor. However, the invention is notlimited to such exemplary embodiments, since other embodiments could beimplemented using hardware component equivalents such as hard wiredlogic, special purpose hardware and/or dedicated processors. Similarly,general purpose computers, microprocessor based computers,micro-controllers, optical computers, analog computers, dedicatedprocessors, application specific circuits and/or dedicated hard wiredlogic may be used to construct alternative equivalent embodiments.

Certain embodiments described herein, are or may be implemented using aprogrammed processor executing programming instructions that are broadlydescribed above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitableelectronic or computer readable storage medium and/or can be transmittedover any suitable electronic communication medium. However, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, upon consideration of the presentteaching, that the processes described above can be implemented in anynumber of variations and in many suitable programming languages withoutdeparting from embodiments of the present invention. For example, theorder of certain operations carried out can often be varied, additionaloperations can be added or operations can be deleted without departingfrom certain embodiments of the invention. Error trapping can be addedand/or enhanced and variations can be made in user interface andinformation presentation without departing from certain embodiments ofthe present invention. Such variations are contemplated and consideredequivalent.

While certain illustrative embodiments have been described, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications, permutations andvariations will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light ofthe foregoing description.

1. A method of identifying a functional command set for an access devicethat accesses television programming provided by a service provider,comprising: at a control device, transmitting a command from a firstcommand set to the access device; ascertaining whether or not the accessdevice provides a correct response to the command, wherein: if thecommand comprises an [ON] command, then the ascertaining is carried outby determining if a video synchronization signal is produced by theaccess device; and if the command comprises a command that is expectedto generate a text containing video frame, then the ascertaining iscarried out by determining if the text containing video frame isdisplayed by using an optical character recognition process to extracttext from the video frame to determine if the video frame corresponds tothe expected text containing video frame.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising conducting a verifying process in whichadditional commands are transmitted that are expected to result ingenerating an additional text containing video frame, and ascertainingthat the resulting additional text containing video frame contains textcorresponds to the additional expected text containing video frame byusing the OCR process to extract text from the additional textcontaining video frame.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein thecommand comprises a [MENU] command and wherein the text containing videoframe comprises an on screen display of a menu.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the command comprises a [GUIDE] display command andwherein the text containing video frame comprises an on screen displayof a program guide.
 5. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising, if the access device does not provide a correct response tothe command, the transmitting and ascertaining are repeated foradditional command sets until a correct response is produced by theaccess device.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OCRprocessing is carried out on a selected segment of the video frame. 7.The method according to claim 1, wherein the OCR process is enabled todetect special symbols in the video frames.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, wherein the special symbols include logos of one or moreservice providers or television channels.
 9. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting of one of aninfrared remote control command and an RF remote control command. 10.The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprisespositioning a cursor over an icon representing the command displayed onscreen and sending a “Select” command.
 11. A computer readable storagemedium storing instructions which, when executed on a programmedprocessor, carry out a process according to claim
 1. 12. A method ofidentifying a functional command set for an access device that accessestelevision programming provided by a service provider, comprising: at acontrol device, transmitting a command from a first command set to theaccess device, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting of one ofan infrared remote control command and an RF remote control command;ascertaining whether or not the access device provides a correctresponse to the command, wherein: if the command comprises an [ON]command, then the ascertaining is carried out by determining if a videosynchronization signal is produced by the access device; and if thecommand comprises one of a [MENU] and a [GUIDE] command, then thecommand is expected to generate a text containing video frame, then theascertaining is carried out by determining if the text containing videoframe is displayed by using an optical character recognition process toextract text from the video frame to determine if the video framecorresponds to the expected text containing video frame in the form ofeither a menu or a program guide on screen display; and furthercomprising: if the access device does not provide a correct response tothe command, the transmitting and ascertaining are repeated foradditional command sets until a correct response is produced by theaccess device
 13. The method according to claim 12, further comprisingconducting a verifying process in which additional commands aretransmitted that are expected to result in generating an additional textcontaining video frame, and ascertaining that the resulting additionaltext containing video frame contains text corresponds to the additionalexpected text containing video frame by using the OCR process to extracttext from the additional text containing video frame.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the OCR processing is carried out on aselected segment of the video frame.
 15. The method according to claim12, wherein the OCR process is enabled to detect special symbols in thevideo frames.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the specialsymbols include logos of one or more service providers or televisionchannels.
 17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the transmittingcomprises positioning a cursor over an icon representing the commanddisplayed on screen and sending a “Select” command.
 18. A control devicethat identifies a functional command set for an access device thataccesses television programming provided by a service provider,comprising: a memory storing a plurality of sets of remote commands; avideo input coupled to the access device for receiving video signals; avideo synchronization detector; a frame store that stores a video framereceived at the video input; an optical character recognition (OCR)machine that carries out an OCR process on the video frame stored in thevideo frame store; a transmitter that transmits a command from a firstof said command sets to the access device; wherein, the control deviceascertains whether or not the access device provides a correct responseto the command by: if the command comprises an [ON] command, then theascertaining is carried out by determining if a video synchronizationsignal is produced by the access device and detected by the videosynchronization detector; and if the command comprises a command that isexpected to generate a text containing video frame, then theascertaining is carried out by determining if the text containing videoframe is displayed by using an optical character recognition process toextract text from the video frame stored in the frame store to determineif the video frame corresponds to the expected text containing videoframe.
 19. The control device according to claim 18, wherein a verifyingprocess is conducted in which additional commands are transmitted by thetransmitter that are expected to result in generating an additional textcontaining video frame, and ascertaining that the resulting additionaltext containing video frame contains text corresponds to the additionalexpected text containing video frame by using the OCR machine to extracttext from the additional text containing video frame stored in the framestore.
 20. The control device according to claim 18, wherein the commandcomprises a [MENU] command and wherein the text containing video framecomprises an on screen display of a menu.
 21. The control according toclaim 18, wherein the command comprises a [GUIDE] display command andwherein the text containing video frame comprises an on screen displayof a program guide.
 22. The control device according to claim 18,wherein, if the access device does not provide a correct response to thecommand, the transmitting and ascertaining are repeated for additionalcommand sets until a correct response is produced by the access device.23. The control device according to claim 18, wherein the OCR processingis carried out on a selected segment of the video frame.
 24. The controldevice according to claim 18, wherein the OCR process is enabled todetect special symbols in the video frames.
 25. The control deviceaccording to claim 24, wherein the special symbols include logos of oneor more service providers or television channels.
 26. The control deviceaccording to claim 18, wherein the transmitter comprises of one of aninfrared remote control command transmitter and an RF remote controlcommand transmitter.
 27. The control device according to claim 18,wherein the transmitter transmits commands that position a cursor overan icon representing the command displayed on screen and sends a“Select” command to transmit the command.